


Perfectly Reasonable

by Bay



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 15:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/599348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bay/pseuds/Bay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vriska always insists it's perfectly reasonable to be violent towards other trolls</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perfectly Reasonable

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anonymonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymonster/gifts).



> For anonymurine in the 2012 Homestuck Gift Exchange. Hope you enjoy!

Every evening Vriska traveled down the many stairs to check up on her lusus. She never liked the trip to the nest, but she wouldn’t forgive herself if something bad happened to her. Often she thought about her past roleplays and how the victories and treasures were worth watching over Mom.

When she reached at the very bottom of the canyon, Vriska stopped to stare at the huge spider. She greeted her with hungry noises. Vriska swore her lusus was growing larger each day even when she didn’t bring any food. Feeding her had always been a pain. 

“Hi, Mom. Good to see you’re still alive and well,” she said in a flat tone. “Sorry, no trolls to feed you today. I’ve been able to sway a troll to meet me tomorrow for a showdown, though, so you’ll have your food then.” 

The spider gave out a disappointed scream; Vriska knew her mom would react like that. She sighed and shook her head. 

“I’m trying, really! It’s just that roleplaying is going a little slow right now.” She was good at finding other FLARP players to use as bait for her guardian, but Mom was _always_ hungry. She couldn’t hunt down trolls nor convince them to play with her fast enough.

Her lusus screeched again, this time much louder. The ground shook and a rumbling noise could be heard. In that instant Vriska covered her ears to prevent her eardrums to pop. 

“All right, all right, I’ll try to round up more trolls for you quickly! Just hang on a little longer.”

Vriska put her hands back in the pocket of her pants and turned around to walk back upstairs to her home. She hoped to be fortunate in catching more trolls soon.

+++

Having chatted with Dubhee for a few days now, Vriska knew several facts about her. Dubhee’s lusus was a cholerbear accessorized in armor and liked to be fed with sweet berries and plants. She was the same age as Vriska. She was no ‘newbie’ to FLARP but was always willing to meet new players. Her stifle specibus was a type of clawkind where the gloves resembled bear claws. They lived not too far from one another, so it wouldn’t be too hard for them to meet up for some roleplay sessions.

Vriska would make sure their first game together would be her last. 

They had commenced their battle at a forest close to Dubhee’s hive and so far Vriska didn’t like how it was progressing. Earlier she rolled her fluorite octet and the end result was a blizzard, making the air awfully chilly and covering the ground with large amounts of snow. It would be harder for Dubhee to find her, but Vriska knew she was in that exact same position too. She hid behind a tree.

“Oh where are you, Marquise?” Dubhee shouted Vriska’s roleplaying name in a taunting tone. “You can’t think I’ll be phased out easily by a little winter storm!” 

Vriska gritted her teeth. Right, her opponent did mention being able to handle cold weather well—Dubhee’s lusus taught her that. She needed to make her next move fast before Dubhee found her. She rolled the dice.

 _2-2-3-5-5-6-6-7. Weasel._

Nearby Vriska heard the weasels coming after Dubhee, sounding as if they went berserk. Her opponent screamed in fright and commented how the hell they showed up all of the sudden. Not the best outcome, but it gave Vriska a chance to roll her dice once more and see if a better result would come.

 _1-2-4-6-6-7-7-8. Unbreakable Katana._

Immediately a slim but strong sword appeared on Vriska’s hand. She fixed her gaze at it and smirked—this should be good enough to defeat Dubhee. Vriska stepped away from behind the tree to track down Dubhee, always glancing to make sure she wouldn’t attack her by surprise. Snow fell much slower than a few minutes earlier, the blizzard dying down now. 

The next few moments went by fast for Vriska. She tensed when she caught Dubhee’s footsteps fast approaching, but turned around just in time to block Dubhee from using her bear claws to scratch her. They exchanged several blows at one another and Dubhee managed to swipe at Vriska’s cheek and shoulder. Vriska retaliated by cutting through Dubhee’s stomach, causing her to cry in pain and green blood to gush out. She then pulled the sword out and slashed at Dubhee’s leg. Her opponent crashed onto the ground.

“Looks like I win,” Vriska said as she looked down at Dubhee. A smug smile settled on her lips. 

“Yes, it seems.” Dubhee gave out a low chuckle before coughing up some blood. 

“Guess luck is with me today.” Vriska winched a little and used her hand to cover the injury on her shoulder, feeling the sting there. 

“I wonder if this is your plan all this time, killing me. Then again, I agreed to this showdown so I can’t fault you.”

Vriska regarded Dubhee in silence. She admitted that Dubhee did put up a decent fight and could hold against her own. It was such a shame they won’t go against each other for round two as she would actually like that very much.

“We trolls are always violent to one another,” she then said. To drive home her point, Vriska struck the sword down on Dubhee’s throat. Dubhee made a gagging sound and more blood poured down on the snow. “Soon you’ll be put out of your misery.” She thought a second whether she should mention to the troll she would be eaten by her lusus soon, but decided against that—she rarely let her victims know what was coming for them.

When Vriska pulled the sword out, she saw Dubhee’s eyes rolled over and her body stiffened. Staring at the corpse a brief moment, she told herself she needed to get back to her hive as soon as possible to feed the spider and perhaps take care of the cuts Dubhee left her. It would be a good idea to have some sort of transportation to carry both of them, so she used her fluorite octet and hoped she had the luck for that.

 _1-2-3-4-5-5-6-8. Skyhorse._

Instantly a large floating sea horse came by, reminding her of Eridan’s lusus. As soon as the beast lowered itself, Vriska threw Dubhee over the sea horse’s back. She then saddled onto the lusus, gripping at the reins. The sea horse neighed loudly and took off. 

+++

It took less than half an hour for Vriska to make it back at the hive. Once she reached the bottom of the canyon, she mounted off from the sea horse and pulled Dubhee to the ground. The lusus floated away, leaving her with the corpse. She glanced around to see the spider weaving silky web at a nearby cliff.

“Hey, Mom! I brought you some food now!”

The spider stopped a few seconds before climbing down and hurrying towards her. Already she snatched the body and Vriska watched as her mother slowly devoured Dubhee. The mandibles sunk deep through the stomach, like how she plunged the sword on the troll’s neck earlier. Loud chewing noises could be heard from the lusus and she shuddered. By the time the spider finished eating the top half of the corpse the other half dropped down onto the web, but she immediately used her mandibles to grab the remains and proceeded back to chewing. Vriska continued to look until the lusus ate the whole body.

Later in the evening Vriska headed to her room. She slipped off her shirt to examine the ripped marks and blood smeared on it. Stopping for a moment, Vriska looked at her bare shoulder to see the scars there. Those weren’t too deep and the pain died down long ago; she had worst injuries. 

After changing into a new shirt, she went to the nearest bathroom to wash her cheek. She quickly gone back to her room and upon logging on to Trollian she noticed Kanaya had been pestering her. No use to keep her waiting. 

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]

GA: So I Take It You Recently Returned From Gaining Another Victory For Your Lusus  
AG: Wowww, such a gr8 o8servation there.  
AG: 8ut yes, I recently got 8ack from a showdown and fed my victim to my lusus.  
GA: Perhaps You Can Indulge Me By Giving Me A Blow by Blow Account  
GA: Im Not A Fan Of Your Style Of Fighting But I Do Like A Good Tale  
AG: I guess so, not sure if I have a lot to say.  
AG: This troll lives close within a forest like Terezi, 8ut closer to my hive.  
AG: We were going 8ainst each other for a while until my fluorite octet caused a 8lizzard to appear.  
GA: I Can See You Thought Luck Wasn’t In Your Favor Upon That Result  
GA: In Which Case Ill Have To Agree As You Use Luck For All Your Battles  
GA: That And I Always Prefer Warmer Weather  
AG: Why I had the feeling you were going to mention that.  
AG: Anyways, eventually I’m a8le to get a sword and the 8oth of us once again fought each other.   
GA: Was She A Good Opponent  
AG: One of the 8etter ones, I think. She had some guts.  
AG: In the end, though, I won.  
AG: And of course, you know what happens after.  
GA: Already Aware Of That The Second You Meddled With Me Tonight  
AG: Hey, you meddled with me first when I wasn’t near my computer yet!  
GA: Fair Enough  
GA: Did Your Lusus Enjoy Her Meal  
AG: I’m pretty sure she did, as always. Sometimes I wonder why I ended up with my lusus.  
GA: Must Be Hard Going Back To Back Clashing Enemies Just To Make Her Content  
AG: No kidding. She is S88888 demanding.  
AG: I’m still a8le to find food for her, just I think soon she’ll 8e so annoying I’ll have to go 8gainst several trolls everyday.  
AG: Very tiring, I tell you!  
GA: I Can Imagine If My Lusus Has The Same Addiction To Eating Like Yours  
GA: If You Have A Choice Of Not Going Around Seeking Other Trolls All The Time Would You Take Advantage of That  
AG: Perhaps. To 8e honest I love g8tting treasure and the experience points, 8ut it would be nice to relax sometimes, you know?  
AG: A few of the trolls I stum8led upon in the past I wouldn’t mind having a few rounds or go on missions together.  
GA: So You Feel Sympathy For Your Victims

Vriska paused to contemplate the question. This was something she never thought about until now.

AG: Somewhat, I guess? Can’t say I treated them well nor played fair. Like I said, the perks from those victories are gr8.  
GA: Im Fairly Sure You Dont Regret Everyones Death But I Sense Some Guilt There  
GA: Perfectly Reasonable To Feel That Way  
AG: Oh geez.  
AG: Can we not talk a8out this anymore? This is getting annoying.  
GA: Understandable Though It Is Something To Consider  
GA: I Actually Need To Make My Leave Now And See How My Lusus Is Doing  
GA: We Shall Commence Our Discussion Next Time  
AG: All right. I need to pester other trolls for fights anyway.

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]

Vriska let out a heavy sigh and stared up at the ceiling. She reflected back to what Kanaya said to her earlier. Her, feel guilty for her opponents? She suspected her friend wanted her to feel that way. Sympathy might be not too far off from the treasure mark, but she believed all her actions had a purpose in the end.

_We trolls are always violent to one another._

Those were her last words to Dubhee before she died. For as long as she remembered, Vriska despised that part in troll’s society in which violence was accepted, encouraged. Because of her mom’s constant hunger she had no choice but to be merciless to others—perfectly reasonable. Remembering her obligation, she brought back her attention at Trollian, meddling any troll online at the moment. She half-wondered if all of this would bite her back and lead to her demise.


End file.
